Loving You From Afar
by PheonixFireBlack
Summary: One-shot. ZackFreddy. Zack's side of the other slash fic I have up "Devoted To You From A Considerable Distance"


Title - Loving You From Afar By - PheonixFireBlack Summary - One-shot. Zack/Freddy. Zack's side of the other slash fic I have up "Devoted To You From A Considerable Distance" Genre - Romance/Humor Category - School of Rock Feedback - Please? I'm not typically a slash writer...wait...we've been over this bit before, haven't we? Critisism - I like it. It's fun. Flame me if ya want...you guys know what I think about flamers...right? *shrugs* Oh well...you will...ONE DAY, you will! Disclaimer - You guy don't know me very well, so I'll let you in on a little secret: I do NOT own School of Rock. I also do not own any of the songs quoted within. They belong to the ones that the refference under the quote SAYS they belong to ...I have a strange feeling that I've said that before. Hmm... Time to go think and wonder about that! lol! Notes - None other than the fact that I hope you guys like this one. You know I don't write much slash if you read the other fic. I guess they could really be read in either order...*shrug* whatever, I just know I wrote "Devoted To You From A Considerable Distance" first so...yeah...lol. Read on, dude! lol!  
  
~*~*~*~  
  
I groan when I heard the annoying buzz of the alarm go off. Damn. It should be the weekend. I shouldn't have to get up at seven this morning. Why did today have to be Friday? I lay there for a moment, looking up at the ceiling blankly. I can't help but wonder if he'll actually be in school today. I know he skips a lot of days. No a lot really, just not as many as he should. Then again, some of those days he had a reason. Some days he would actually be sick, but others he just skipped. I never hav, and don't think I ever will, understand why he does the things he does. I sigh as I finally decide to get out of bed. However, though the point was to actually get up, that's a bit different than where I got. I sat up, leaning on my knees, palms to my eyes. I hate mornings. I hate waking up at seven o'clock. Why does school have to start at eight? And why do we have to be there at seven forty-five? I shake my head and finally get up. No, really, I'm getting up now. I walk over to the closet and throw the door open. Everyone thought it was cool when the school let us have free dress code on Fridays. I didn't used to be one that cared much what people thought about what I wore, but it's a little different now. I'm not sure really why it's so different. Maybe it's because I'm seventeen or maybe it's just because of...him. I shrug and decide on a black t-shirt with blue and white electric-looking letters: AC/DC, the shirt said; and a pair of black jeans. I put the clothing on as well as my shoes and sigh again. I wish today could be different, but I know it won't be. I'll continue on today just like I did yesterday and every other day before that. I roll my eyes and pick up my book bag, making my way downstairs. I hope my mom isn't in the kitchen, even though that completely impossible. She's always in the kitchen. I'm seriously starting to think that the woman lives there. I repress the urge to roll my eyes at the typicalness of my mother. She was standing there, leaning over some article in the newspaper. The next thing she would do was turn and greet me with a happy and entergetic, "Good morning, hun."  
  
"Morning mom."  
  
"Breakfast?"  
  
"No..."  
  
"Hun...you haven't eaten breakfast all week. What's wrong?"  
  
I sighed, "Nothing, mom."  
  
"Zach..." She said, warning me.  
  
"It's nothing. I just haven't been hungry in the morning, ok?"  
  
She seemed skeptical, but faked to believe me anyway. "Alright...but you're going to eat breakfast this weekend or I'm going to start treating you like a seven year old."  
  
I release the need to roll my eyes. "Mom..."  
  
"Zach, I'm serious."  
  
"Really? Never would have thought that. My mom can be serious." I said sarcastically.  
  
"What is wrong with you this morning?"  
  
"I dunno...I'm going to school." With that, I started towards the door.  
  
"Forgetting something?"  
  
"No."  
  
"Your car keys, dear, you need them to drive."  
  
"No, mom. In case you forgot, my car's in the shop. Remember?"  
  
"Oh...right...your walking, then?"  
  
"Yeah..." I say, as if it's all very obvious.  
  
"Fine, I'll see you later." She said, kissing my forehead.  
  
I turn around and roll my eyes, exiting the house. Sometimes, my mom can be very...annoying in her motherly ways.  
  
~*~*~*~  
  
I finally realize that I'm at school when I'm standing in front of my locker. I shook my head and snapped out of the reverie I seem to be in. Maybe mom's right...maybe something is wrong with me today. God, I hope I can focus in classes today. I sigh and close my locker door, slowly heading towards the first class of the day. I suddenly remember just how much I hate Literature. I'm not so sure it's the subject that I hate, really, just the teacher. Mrs. Keagan can be a real hard-ass sometimes. Then again, maybe it's just the class in general.  
  
It's kind of weird, but the class is almost painful in a way. He's in the front of the class; not out of choice, he had started out in the back, but Mrs. Keagan put him in front when she realized that he was a bit disruptive. She thought she needed to keep a closer eye on him, I guess. Anyway...the seating arrangement is kind of annoying. Why did she have to put him right in front of me? Doesn't she know we're best friends? Didn't she suspect something? I mean, not like that...but, just...I mean, we're friends. I thought teachers always tried to keep friends away from each other so they didn't talk and...whatever during class. Maybe I was wrong, but that's how it worked in all my other classes. Maybe Mrs. Kaegan was just weird.  
  
I shrug at my thoughts as I enter the classroom and walk over to my desk, slipping in behind him. Wait. What the hell? Why was he here already? I don't think he's ever been early for school--especially not Literature. In his own words, he thinks that Mrs. Keagan "Should get whatever stick is up her ass out and choke on it.". I shake my head and smirk at the remembrance of that day. He's not exactly the most logical person you could ever meet, but he's still ok. Suddenly, I'm pulled back to my original thoughts, but this time I voice them. I tap him on the shoulder. "What are you doing here early, man?"  
  
Just as he was about to answer, Mrs. Keagan comes in, the bell rings, and class begins. I sit back in the seat, open my notebook and sigh as I realize that I probably won't be able to talk to him for awhile. I'd probably be lucky to catch him in the break between this class and the next. Damn. It will probably be lunch before I get to talk to him again. I sigh again and start taking notes.  
  
~*~*~*~  
  
I wasn't far off when I thought it would be lunch before I got to talk to him again. Actually, I was right on the dot. It was finally lunch, but at the moment, I didn't see him anywhere. I frown. I know he didn't arrive early for school and skip lunch in the same day, that would just be too weird. I pay for the junk the school actually expects us to eat, hoping I won't die today from whatever the stuff we have today is. I look around and just when I don't think I'll find him, I see someone at a table, alone, and seemingly...banging their head on the table? What the hell? It had to be him, but...the question was: Why? I can't help but shake my head and slowly make my way over to the table. I roll my eyes, seeing that it really is him.  
  
"Hey," He says, pausing in his head banging.  
  
"Back atcha, Jones," I said, placing the tray down on the table and sitting down. "Mind telling me just why you were banging your head on the table before I came over?" I ask in as casual a manner as I can manage. This is just amusing, but in an odd kind of way, maybe even a little disturbing. Maybe my mind is just pulling in strange words at the time. Oh well.  
  
"Do you want the truth, or a lie?" He joked, "I'm really good at lying...I bet I could convince you of the lie...but you wouldn't know it was a lie, because you would think it was truth."  
  
"Right..." I laughed, "Anyway, let's swing for the truth today, alright?" I knew he probably wouldn't actually tell me the truth, but I decided that I would at least try to get it out of him.  
  
"Well, damn you for wanting the truth. I don't know the truth, man. Maybe I was just trying to figure out if I really existed in this life."  
  
"And...that would lead to you...banging your head on the table?" I ask slowly, a little shocked at the sudden outburst, yet confused at the same time. "That's real logical." I can't help but roll my eyes. His reason just wasn't plausible.  
  
"Thanks, I try." He said in a quick, sarcastic manner.  
  
"Anytime. Really, call me anytime you want to be sarcastically told that you're being logical when, in reality, you are being a complete moron." I couldn't resist retorting back in a manner similar to his own sarcastic one.  
  
"Jokes would be my forte and I'd appreciate it if you didn't take over it!"  
  
"I thought drums would be your forte..."  
  
"Well...yeah, but that wasn't the point at the time."  
  
I laugh and shake my head. Freddy can be so clueless to his own point sometimes. It's actually highly amusing to tell the truth.  
  
He shrugged and seemed to decide to continue in him previous act of banging his head on the table.  
  
"You do not make sense, Jones."  
  
"Thanks.." He said, finally stopping in the head banging process. "You took that as a compliment?" I was sure I had a strange look on my face; I could feel it.  
  
"Sure, why not?" He shrugged it off.  
  
"Ok, you are officially going in the Giant Book of Weird People."  
  
"Are you in that book, Zach?"  
  
"No...people seem to think that I'm boring and mundane." I said, speaking the truth. I don't really have friends outside the band. Before that, it was ten times worse.  
  
"Hmm...that's strange. In this Giant Book of Weird People...does it include weird looking people?"  
  
His plan backfired as I said, "I don't know, why don't you go to the library and find out?"  
  
"Damn you. You've been hanging around me too much. You're picking up on thinking quick on your feet."  
  
"Sorry, it's a habit...I tend to pick things up from people that I've known for seventeen years."  
  
"I guess it's just..." He rolled my eyes at himself and laughed, "Yeah...lost my point. It just flew out the window."  
  
"Sure it did, Freddy, sure it did." I grind and shake my head, guessing he really had no true point in the beginning.  
  
~*~*~*~  
  
I was glad when school ended today. Actually, I'm always glad when school ends--especially on Friday's. I slowly make my way towards my locker to get the books I need for homework, silently wishing that the teachers would lighten up a little. I guess I should really worry about something I can't control, but it seems like all of the teachers have suddenly piled on tons of homework. I get the required books, shoving them into my bag, and close the locker door. I stand there for a moment, wondering if the thoughts that I had been having in Literature really meant anything. This reminded me that I needed to ask him about being early for once. I just didn't realize how soon the opportunity would come up. Just as I started off to go towards the double doors, he runs past me and doubles back.  
  
"Thought you'd already left." He said simply.  
  
"Nope..." I muttered.  
  
"So, what's up?"  
  
"Nothing much...though I have been trying to figure out just why the hell you were early for home room for once since we've started high school." I say, shoving the heavy front door open. When we step into the bright light, we both have to stop for a moment to let our eyes adjust, so as to not fall and break our necks or something of that sort.  
  
"Ahh...why I was here early. Right. Should've known you would ask that."  
  
"So, what's the excuse so we can get that bit over with." I joke, knowing that he will know that the reference is to the fact that he usually tends to beat around the truth a lot of the time.  
  
"No excuse today. Parents were gone when I got up--what's new, huh?" He shrugged, "Didn't have anything else to do, so I made my way over here."  
  
"How long are they supposed to be gone this time?"  
  
"The note said they'd be back within the next week." He paused and looked me in the eyes, "Or so." He rolled his eyes and shifted them to face forward again.  
  
"Your parents are insane." I mutter. This is more or less a phrase I don't tend to realize I, it just comes from my mouth out of habit. As we walk and fall into an odd silence, I can't help but notice a few things; None of them too big, but I notice them nevertheless. Some of his blond hair is falling into his face; the way he's acting, not much different, but enough to make me wonder about him. Something's wrong. Something other than his parents always being gone. I can't put my finger on what it is, and decide not to bug him about it right now. One of the final things I notice is the sun...how the sun sets on his shoulders. The last thing I notice is of myself. And it has to do with that stupid sun. I'm not sure why, but I have the sudden desire to touch him--on the shoulders--but nonetheless, I want to touch him. Even if it is just his shoulder's...it'd be good enough--for now. I shake my head to try and clear the thoughts of devising a way to be able to touch his shoulders out of my head. I can't believe these things are going through my mind. It doesn't surprise me since they've been there for a while, but it still surprises me. Suddenly, as he glances at me, I notice something else. His eyes. I'm not sure what it is, but there's something there that makes me concerned, yet at the same time, seems to make everything fade away. But then he looked away and everything rushes back at me.  
  
Well, the sun sets gently on your shoulders  
An it makes me want to touch you there  
And the light in your eyes makes me feel  
Like there's something much better out there  
Something kind  
Vertical Horizon - Trying To Find A Purpose  
  
"You're quiet." He said before adding, "Even for you."  
  
He said the last bit in a tone that made it sound as if he didn't want his last statement to come off as too obvious. I guess it makes sense. A comment on me being quiet it fairly obvious. I shrug, "Typical me, right?"  
  
"Yeah, I guess."  
  
And that's when we come to it. The end of where we would see each other until the next day at the arcade or some other random place we might decide to go this weekend. Now we were at the point where would go our seperate ways to get to our own homes. He was the first to say anything, "See ya later, Zach."  
  
"See ya 'round, Jones." I mutter and try to unnoticeably watch him walk away. After a few seconds of this, however, I find that this is impossible and decide to go on to my house.  
  
~*~*~*~  
  
After I had entered the house and gone upstairs, I started on my homework; May as well get it all over with now, right? I was in the middle of one of the assigned Algebra 2 problems when something hit me. It was kind of because of the song I was listening to at the moment, I guess. Stupid Vertical Horizon. The chorus of the song had just started and it slapped me in the face.  
  
He's everything you want  
He's everything you need  
He's everything inside of you  
That you wish you could be  
He says all the right things  
At exactly the right time  
Vertical Horizon - Everything You Want  
  
Why do I have to always relate things in life to the lyrics in a song? It was almost perfect. Kind of creepy in away. He's everything you want. Freddy. He's everything you need. Freddy. He's everything inside of you that you wish you could be. Can you say outgoing and not afraid to speak his mind? He says all the right things at exactly the right time. Ok, so that part isn't exactly true, but the rest of the lyrics are and that's close enough for me. It's true, most of the chorus. Really, it is. I've come to the decision that I am, in fact, in love with Freddy Jones. The only question is: Will I do anything about it?  
  
~*~*~*~  
  
Notes - Don't you just LOVE the way I ended that? I did. It was fun. Review!  
  
Ok, so Zack's bit was a *little* longer than Freddy's, so what? Maybe I can just work with Zack a little better lol! I don't know!  
  
Story to expect to be seeing: You know that OTHER SoR fic I have, "Life Is An Enchantment"? Yes...well do you remember in the beginning the little flashback that Zack had in the beginning? The one with Hailey? Yes...that one...the ONLY flashback...*laughs* Look for it: The Summer Inbetween *grin* *waves*  
  
Later days, ~PFB 


End file.
